Container



June 2, 1931. HANSSON 1,807,912

CONTAINER Filed July 20, 1929 I ,/0 I Neuira) Neuim/ Neuira/ Axis Ax/sAxis INVENTOR Patented June 2, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SOB-ENHANSSON, OF BUTLER, PENNSYLVANA, ASSIGNOR TO STANDARD STEEL GARCORPORATION, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL-VANIA CONTAINER Application filed July 20, 1929. Serial No. 379,636.

My invention relates to containers of boxlike character, and moreparticularly to containers that are especially suited for use intransporting heavy materials, such as metal scrap, and small metalarticles such as bolts, nuts, casting, etc.

Containers of this character must be capable of supporting very heavyloads and it is of course desirable that they be constructed of as lightweight material as possible, but having sufiicientstrength to withstandservice conditions.

My invention has for its object the provision of a container that, for agiven weight or thickness of material, has great strength compared tovarious forms of containers heretofore employed.

One form which my invention may take is shown in the accompanyingdrawing wherein Figure 1 is an end elevational view of a containermounted upon a supporting table; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, onan enlarged scale, of a portion of the structure of Fig. 1; Figs. 3 andt are views similar to Fig. 2, but showing other forms of containers,for the purpose of comparison with Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a crosssectional View of an I- beam also included in the drawing for thepurpose of comparison and explanation.

As shown in Fig. l, the container (3 is composed of a metal sheet orsheets rolled or stamped to form interiorly and exteriorly disposedchannel portions, and it may be of either rectangular or other fonn. Asshown more clearly in Fig. 2, the container has no top and no bottom, itbeing simply placed upon a table or platform which serves as a bottomand which is transported with the container from place to place, by acrane or truck, in a manner well-known in steel plants, foundries,machine shops, etc. The container 6 is maintained in centralizedposition upon the table 7 by means of stop lugs 8.

This invention is directed particularly to the form and location of thechannels in the sides of the container. As shown in Fig. 2, I provideexterior or tension channel portions 9 and interior or compressionchannel portions 10 and 11. It will be understood that any desirednumber of channel portions 9 and 10 may be provided. The web of thechannel 10 is substantially equal in width to the width of one of thechannels 9, while the combined widths of the channels 11 areapproximately equal to the width of one of the channels 9. The channels9 and 10 have connecting or flange portions 12 which correspond toflanges of ordinary channel irons and which are shown as inclinedrelative to the bottom planes of the channels 9 and 10 which may beperpendicular thereto, if desired.

Referring to that portion of Fig. 2, embracing the channel 10 and theupperchannel 9, for example, resistance to outward pressure exerted bymaterial within the container is relatively great compared to thethickness of the container wall, by reason of the fact that the doublechannel-like formation of the wall produces a functional characteristicsomewhat as in an I-beam or Z-beam, to resist distortion of the sides ofthe container. For instance, the bottom portion of the channel 10corresponds to the flange 13 of the I-beam of Fig. 5, the portion 12corresponds to the portion 14 of the I-beam, and the bottom portion ofthe upper channel 9 corresponds to the flange 15 of the I-beam.

Assuming that a thrust is exerted upon the I-beam of Fig. 5 in adownward direction, the upper flanges thereof function as a compressionmember while the lower flanges function as tension members, the neutralaxis. as between tension and compression forces being indicated by adotted line which bisects the web 14. Similarly, in Fig. 2, the innerchannels 10 and 11 function as compression members when force is exertedoutwardly upon the walls of the container, while the channels 9 functionas tension members to resist such outward thrust. Since the combinedwidths of the inner channels are approximately equal to' the combinedwidths of the outer channels, the neutral axis will be along the lineaa. The channel portions 9, 10 and 11 may be integrally formed from asingle piece of metal or may be separately formed and welded orotherwise secured together, as at points along the lines a-a, or atother suitable points.

Experiments have shown that by forming the container sides as shown inFig. 2, with the inner channel portions substantially equal in totalwidth to the total width of the outer channel portions and by having thebottoms of the channel portions flattened, I secure a container that hasgreat resistance to deflection by horizontally-directed pressuresagainst its sides, with a minimum thickness of material and with aminimum overall wall thickness, the overall wall thickness being thatdefined by the innermost plane of the 7 wall and the outermost planethereof.

For purpose of comparison, a container formed substantially as in Fig.2, with the fiat bottom channels disposed interiorly and exteriorly ofthe neutral axis aa, is, for a given thickness of material, six timesgreater than the container of Fig. 3, and has twice the strength of acontainer constructed according to Fig. 4.

I claim as my invention 1. A container having a side wall composed ofinteriorly and exteriorly-disposed channel portions that extendhorizontally and have their bottoms substantially flat, the total widthof the inner channel portions being substantially equal to the totalwidth of the outer channel portions and being connected thereto byrelatively narrow flange-like portions.

2. A container having a side wall composed ofinteriorly andexteriorly-disposed channel portions that extend horizontally and havetheir bottoms substantially flat, the total width of the inner channelportions being substantially equal to the total width of the outerchannel portions, and the inner and outer channel portions beingconnectedby relatively narrow flange-like portions disposed diagonallyto the plane of said bottom portions.

In testimony whereof I, the said SOREN HANSSON, have hereunto set myhand.

SOREN HANSSON.

